Torn Apart
by daydreambeliever321
Summary: When an anonymous person begins to send threats to Bella, she is terrified for her secret, and even more importantly her life and the lives of her friends. She need support now more than ever. Can Will be there for her no matter what happens? Or will fate continue to try and tear them apart? Sequel to DON'T LEAVE ME. REVISED VERSION; SAME STORY!
1. Chapter 1: Shark!

**A/N: Here's the sequel you've all been waiting for! LOL I had problems getting started, but I think this is gonna be good… :) Enjoy the first chapter!**

**Disclaimer: Of course I own H2O, it sits in a plastic jug on my counter…. duh?**

**Oh wait, you meant the TV show…ohhhhh…. are you for real? Seriously?**

CHAPTER 1

Will's POV:

I dipped beneath the waves, Bella close behind me. I loved swimming with her; it was like something out of a fairytale, the mortal with the mermaid swimming side by side. I loved the ocean no matter what, but everything seemed to be even more beautiful when she was around.

We were out near Mako and on our way back to the moon pool at the moment. I turned to look at Bella and she motioned at a colorful fish that was just swimming past. We swam through a small forest of coral and compared the seashells we found on the ocean floor. I had to go up frequently for air, but Bella remained underwater, still searching for shells. As she swam along the ocean floor, I tried to imitate the smooth and fluid motions of her tail and body. I would never be perfect, but Bella had to be the best diving coach ever. To bad I could never share my secret with anyone. I couldn't very well tell them I had a mermaid for my coach. A school of fish swam by at just that moment and Bella and I stopped to watch them pass. As I turned my gaze to the fish, I didn't notice the even bigger fish that was slowly approaching from behind, following the school.

I suddenly felt Bella's hand on my arm, her nails digging into my skin. I spun around in surprise; only to come face to face with a long torpedo shaped shark. Apparently Bella and I had come between him and his lunch. From what I knew about sharks, that meant we could be in serious trouble. I froze in place, not take my eyes of the animal. Bella still had her hand on my arm and I moved out of instinct in front of her. The shark seemed to be sizing us up, and I took that opportunity to start moving backwards, both of my arms wrapped around Bella by this time. Then our pleasant swim turned into a nightmare as the shark moved and began to circle us.

I had to think fast. I looked at Bella out of the corner of my eyes and motioned for her to go. I knew that she could swim away in an instant; I just wanted her safe. She looked at me like I was insane and shook her head firmly. I turned completely in her direction this time and attempted to convince her, but my motion must have startled the shark, and he closed in before I even knew what was happening. I felt a rush of water as the shark lunged at me, but I didn't feel any pain. I looked around, praying that Bella was gone, but then I saw her focusing her powers on the shark. The animal seemed confused and swished his tail nervously. It was only then that I noticed the small trickle of blood that was beginning to ooze out of my arm. This wasn't good. I needed to get out of the water NOW, but I was afraid to move fro fear of startling the shark. As I was debating with myself what on earth I was going to do, Bella swam slowly over to where I was, all the time still keeping her powers directed at the shark. The large fish seemed to be contemplating whether or not to charge. Bella flicked her wrist sharply and the shark shuddered and turned away. I breathed a sigh of relieve as it swam away and disappeared into the distance. I began to surface; I was in desperate need of oxygen. Rather than staying below like she often did, Bella joined me at the surface even though I was sure that she didn't need the air.

"Oh my gosh, are you okay?" she cried the minute we reached the surface. I glanced down at my arm, it looked worse than it had underwater; it was bleeding profusely and now there was no water to wash the blood away.

"It's nothing, just a scratch," I lied. She didn't look convinced.

"Look, we need to get you out of the water now. The moon pool is only a few minutes away, even swimming at normal speed. Do you think you can make it that far?" She asked worriedly.

"I think I'm going to have to," I said, "but I might need a little help."

She nodded, "No problem, just stop me when you feel like you can't go any further by yourself, okay?"

I nodded, "right," I said, "now let's go, the blood might attract the shark again and we don't know if your powers will scare it off a second time."

With that we dived back under again, Bella swimming next to me slowly as we cautiously made our way towards the moon pool. I was actually able to go most of the way by myself, I guess the salt water was good for my arm, I didn't know. We swam into the cavern and surfaced. I climbed out of the moon pool immediately and Bella soon followed, although it took her a little while because I couldn't really help her. When she finally succeeded in pulling herself out onto the sand, she flipped her wet hair over her shoulder.

"I don't usually like to do this," she said, "but I need to get dry fast." And with that she turned her hand over her body, turning all the water into jelly. Then she began to brush it off. In about a minute she was on her feet, something that usually took anywhere from ten to fifteen minutes, sometimes longer if there weren't any towels available. She knelt beside me on the sand.

"Let me see it," she said softly, motioning for my arm that I was cradling in my hand. I grimaced, but let her see. It actually wasn't that bad; it looked worse than it was, but it hurt like crazy, and it was still bleeding.

She gasped when she saw it, but didn't freak out like I had expected.

"Okay, first we need something to stop the bleeding" she said practically, pulling herself together. I was glad someone was calm, cause I was still a bit shaky after everything. She was looking around the cave as I spoke.

"Here, this should do," she said, returning with a cloth; I think it was a T-shirt, I didn't know. It was pretty thin and she had no problem ripping it in two pieces, one was quit a bit bigger than the other. She dipped the end of the smaller piece in the moon pool, being very careful not to get wet herself, and used it to gently clean the gash. I gasped at the sting left by the cold water. She stopped immediately.

"I'm sorry," she apologized, but I shook my head.

"No, it's fine, I can handle it. Go ahead." I gritted my teeth as she proceeded to finish cleaning the wound. Finally she was done and had wrapped the other piece around the gash, securing it tightly.

"It's not the best bandage ever," she said, sitting down beside me, "but it'll do for now."

"It's fine sweetie." I said, putting my good arm around her. "Whatever it was you found was perfect; where was it anyway?"

She thought for a second. "It was over there, in a nook or something." She stood up and went back to the other side of the cave.

"Yeah, it was…" her voice trailed off, "Right here…" She went silent.

"Bella?" She was just staring at the walls.

"Hey," I said, getting up and coming over to stand beside her, "everything okay?"

She didn't answer.

"Bella? Earth to Bella," I teased, waving my good hand in front of her face. Then I noticed how serious she looked, and I stopped smiling.

"Is something wrong?" I asked again. She shook her head.

"Someone's been here." She said shakily, gesturing towards the wall. I followed her gaze and studied the wall. My eyes rested on a small carry-on bag inside just one of the many nooks and crannies that filled the place. There was a thermos next to it.

"That wasn't here yesterday," I said slowly, turning to look at her. She looked scared.

"That's where I got the T-Shirt; it was just lying there and I grabbed it."

I shrugged, "Maybe it belongs to Zane?" She looked at me.

"Zane's in Sydney with his father, remember? He left two days ago, Lewis isn't due for a vacation for weeks, and that doesn't look like it belongs to one of the girls. Besides, I don't think any of them have been here since last night anyway."

I knew how serious this could be, but I didn't want Bella to know how freaked out I was getting. I tried to act nonchalant.

"So, someone's been here, relax. It doesn't mean that they know anything. Remember, I was here once, and I actually SAW something, and I still couldn't figure it out on my own."

I was trying to convince myself as well as Bella that everything was fine, but it obviously wasn't working. She looked upset and I didn't know what to do about it, so I did the only thing I could think of. I put my arm around her shoulders and squeezed them comfortingly, planting a light kiss on her forehead.

"Take it easy, I'm sure it's nothing. But just to be on the safe side I wouldn't come here for the next few days. Let me come and check things out." She looked up at me, the concern on her face growing. I jumped to cover myself, "

I'm not saying that there's anything to worry about," I added quickly, "but just in case, I don't want anything to happen to you. Okay?"

She nodded, "You're right; I'll tell the girls too. Do you think we should look inside the bag?" She asked.

"Yeah, I think so, maybe it will give us a clue as to who's been here, or at least what they want anyway." I said, stepping forward. As I did, I jarred my arm a little bit.

"Ahh!" I gasped, holding it to my chest. Bella was at my side in an instant.

"You know what, forget the bag, we need to get you back to the mainland. If I help you, do you think you can make it back?"

I nodded, "Yeah, but we'd better leave now, if my arm starts bleeding again it won't be safe. Just promise me that you won't come back to look at that bag without me, okay?"

"Okay, okay, now lets go," she said in a rush. I wasn't completely satisfied with that answer, but I knew that waiting around any longer would be foolish. We slipped back into the moon pool. While she was transforming, I turned and took a hard look at the nook in the cave. A dozen questions were running through my mind. Who had been in here? What on earth did they want? And more importantly, how much did they know? Yes, I was curious, but I was also a bit scared to find out the answers.

**A/N: Okay, there was the first chapter. The whole shark thing was just an intro, but I had a lot of fun writing it, as sharks are one of my favorite animals. I know a few of you were waiting for a sequel so here it is! Did you like it? Did you hate it? Please review and tell me! Oh, and credit for the disclaimers goes to my BFF Sylvia, she hates it when all I put is "I don't own H2O". :) Anyway, thank you so much for reading! Love you guys! :)**

**Ella :)**


	2. Chapter 2: A Plan

**A/N: Yay! You guys like this so far! :) I'm so sorry for making you wait forever for this! A little change in the last chapter: at the end, Bella technically promised Will that she wouldn't got back to the moon pool without him, but I didn't realize that she had actually said "I promise". That was a typo of sorts; she's only supposed to say 'okay, okay." I went back and fixed it. If you're confused, I'd suggest going back and re-reading the ending, because that little change is CRUCIAL! Oh, And in response to H2O 4eva's review: I am definitely not going to just leave this as one chapter! But, something tells me you might have figured that out by now! I wanted to PM you, but your review was anonymous. Anyway, thanks to EVERYONE who's review, I hope you like this chapter! :)**

**IMPORTANT! – I just opened my own account and reposted all my stories there. I hate to loose the reviews, but I really need my own account. I've been posting all my stories previously to gabisamore. My new user is (obviously):**

**Daydreambeliever321**

**If you see the stories reposted, dropping a review even if you did before would be amazing to me, just to get me started. Because of certain family "factors" opening an account is a big thing for me and it would mean a lot to me to have your support. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own h2o just add water**

CHAPTER 2

Bella's POV:

I was in the bathtub, swishing my tail in the suds. It was really annoying not being able to take showers anymore; they were so much quicker than baths, just one of the many cons of being a mermaid. After yesterday's scare in the water, I had made Will go straight to the emergency room to get his arm checked out. It hadn't been that bad, but he wasn't supposed to go swimming until it had healed. After we got out of the ER, I had called the girls and told them about the trouble at the moon pool. Will hadn't mentioned it since and I hoped that it would stay that way. The fact that he couldn't swim was in itself was driving him crazy, so I decided that we should totally go on a date today; somewhere that didn't require swimming. We had actually had very few dates of this sort, so it had taken me some time to decide where I wanted to go. We had finally decided on lunch at a small restaurant in town and then a walk on the beach afterwards. I picked up my phone from the side of the tub and quickly checked the time. I had about an hour left before I had to leave, so I pulled out the stopper and began waiting patiently for the water to drain. When it had, I ran a towel over my body and tail before I turned the remaining water into jelly and brushed I off. Now fully clothed and completely dried off I stepped out of my bathroom and into my bedroom. When it was time to leave, I was wearing a blue top and jean shorts; the restaurant we were going to wasn't very fancy.

I left the house a few minutes later and headed down to the café where I had agreed to meet Will. I got there a few minutes early. and I settled onto a bench outside to wait. I saw Will approaching me a few seconds later. He grinned when he saw me and walked a bit faster.

"Hey," he said when he reached me, kissing me lightly on the cheek.

"Hey," I replied, hugging him lightly. "How's your arm?" I traced my fingers gently along the bandage that covered most of his left arm.

"It's better." He said. "But I still have to wait a least another week before I can swim."

"That stinks," I said sympathetically. "Are you hungry?" I added, tactfully changing the subject.

"Extremely," he grinned, "You ready?"

"I'm ready," I replied.

"Okay then lets go." He said. We turned and headed for the street.

The restaurant was only a short walk from the café and it wasn't long before we were seated comfortably in a booth with our menus opened.

"I can't decide." I said glumly, staring at all the delicious things.

"Me either." Will said. "Oh well," he sighed. "I guess there's only one thing left to do." And with that, he closed his eyes and randomly pointed to something on the menu. He cracked one eye open.

"It looks like I'm having Chicken Parmesan." He said. "Nice."

I laughed. 'I think I'll have the same." I put my menu down and he did the same. Our waiter came over a few minutes later, brought us our drinks, and took our orders. I took a small sip out of my ice water, careful to use the straw provided. Will watched me like a hawk while I took a drink and didn't touch his own ice tea until I was finished.

"What was that for?" I asked curiously.

"What was what for?" He asked innocently, wiping his mouth with a napkin.

"That staring. You stared at me the entire time I was drinking my water. Why?"

He smiled sheepishly. "I don't know; it just freaks me out whenever you come near water in a public place. You could have splashed yourself just now without even realizing it."

"So you were watching just to make sure I was safe?" I clarified.

"Yeah," he answered simply. He looked a bit embarrassed.

"That's really sweet." I said. "But do I really make you that nervous?"

"Sometimes," he said slowly. "But most of the time I stare at you only because you're so unbelievably cute that I can't keep my eyes off you."

I giggled. "Okay. You want something don't you?"

He smiled impishly. "What makes you think that?" He said.

"Because you're being far too sweet for just an ordinary date, it's not my birthday and it's not any particular anniversary as far as I know."

He ducked his head, "well, there was this small matter of dessert…I know you're on a never-ending diet, but Sophie never lets me eat ANYTHING that's not healthy, and I have this weakness for all things chocolate…"

"Ah ha!" I cried triumphantly. "I knew it!" The waiter brought us our food just then and we started eating. In the end, we decided on chocolate mousse cake for dessert. I let Will eat most of it, and he definitely wasn't arguing with me on that.

"Sophie's going to kill me," he said with his mouth full of chocolate, "but I don't care, this was worth it." I giggled and kissed him.

"Delicious," I murmured, tasting chocolate on his lips. I leaned over and hugged him from the side.

"Should I take that as I complement?" He said, hugging me back.

"Yes you should."

He chuckled and we were silent for a few seconds. I had plans in the back of my mind and while I hated doing this to Will, he couldn't come with me to explore the moon pool. I needed to know what was inside that bag and the only way I was going to find out was if I went out there. I knew Will wasn't going to let me if he knew, and I didn't want to lie unless I absolutely had to. I had never actually promised that I wouldn't go back to the moon pool. I had merely said "okay."

Will requested the check a few minutes later and then we left. We walked to the beach and strolled down on the soft sand. We took off our shoes and carried them in our hands, being careful to say on the dry sand. We held hands and just talked as we walked. I could see Will looking longingly at the water from time to time, and I tried to distract him by talking about other things. When it started getting late, he walked me back to my house and I kissed him goodbye before I went inside. I was actually surprised that the moon pool hadn't come up at all in our conversation, and I was also very relieved. The minute I got inside, I pulled out my phone and texted Rikki and Cleo.

_"We need to talk. Meet at the café in hour?"_

I got two positive replies a few seconds later and I headed to the café for the second time today. I was the first one there, but the girls soon joined me. Rikki pulled us into the office and we sat down.

"What's this all about?" Cleo asked.

"The moon pool," I said simply. "We need to know who that bag belongs to, and why were they there in the first place."

"I thought Will wanted us to wait until he could go with us." Rikki said pointedly.

I shook my head. "He won't be able to go back in the water for another week; by then that bag will be gone, if it's not already. We need to go check it out now."

"But what if it's something serious? We can't take the chance Bella." Cleo argued.

"When Will was our problem we had to deal with it," I countered, "Why is this time any different? When it comes down to this, it's OUR secret and we have to be the ones to protect it. Not Will, not Lewis, not Zane, not anybody else but us."

Cleo was silent and Rikki nodded.

"She's right you know," Rikki said to Cleo. "It's our secret and we're responsible for it. I'm in." She grinned at me and then we both turned and looked at Cleo.

She sighed. "Oh fine, but don't say that I didn't warn you." She grumbled. I smiled.

"Okay then," I began. "Now here's the plan…"

**A/N: Once again this is more of a filler chapter, it seems that all my stories have reached that point, but the next chapter is going to be interesting. Any ideas what Bella's plan is? Well if you have one, tell be cause I have no idea either! LOL, no seriously, if you have ideas or comments, please PM me and tell me. I would love to hear them! :) Hopefully you weren't disappointed in this, it had some cute wella moments! Thank you so much for reading and I'm so sorry for making you wait so long for this. I'll try to update more frequently; school will be out soon and I should have more time. Please review, it means so much. The first reviewer on this chapter gets a shoutout in the next chapter! All reviewers get a shoutout in the end of the fic so please, PLEASE review! Thank you! ;-)**

**Ella:)**


	3. Chapter 3: The Article

**A/N: I know it's been forever and I apologize for being MIA. I'm so sorry and I hope this chapter is good enough to make up for being gone all this time. This is a harder story to write, but I have so many encouraging readers that I decided that I couldn't just drop it. Here's the third chapter of Torn Apart. Enjoy! :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own H2O just add water.**

CHAPTER 3

Rikki's POV:

"So let me get this straight," I began, "You and I are going to investigate that bag you and Will found at the moon pool, even though he told you that he didn't want you there without him?" I looked at Bella questioningly. She looked like she was thinking for a few seconds and then nodded slowly.

"That about sums it up," she said, looking slightly guilty. Cleo brushed some hair away from her face and stood up.

"You and Rikki are going out to the moon pool, and I'm staying on the shore as a look-out?" She asked, looking a bit nervous. "If there's nothing to worry about, why do we need a look-out?"

Bella shrugged. "It's just a precaution. If and when Will finds out about our little escapade, I want him to know we took every precaution to stay safe. I would do it, but I'm the only one who knows where the bag is, and no offense, but Rikki's a bit more adventurous then you are."

Cleo looked slightly offended, but then she sighed. "Fine, I'll do it. I said I'd go along with this whole thing, but frankly, it's starting to make me nervous." She looked at both of us. "What if whoever we're dealing with knows too much?"

I shook my head, "that's the last thing we should be worrying about right now. We can't change what someone knows and what he doesn't, so lets just take this one step at a time."

Bella nodded in agreement and we all stood up from our seats.

"Here," Cleo handed me a five to cover the cost of her drink and Bella began fishing around in her shorts' pocket as well. I waved them both away.

"I'll pay; don't worry about it." I said, walking behind the counter. I popped open the cash register and pulled a ten from my pocket. I was beginning to gather my change when a guy stepped up to the register. I didn't notice him at first, and I was about to leave when he cleared his throat and I looked up. He looked about eighteen or nineteen and was wearing a striped polo and khaki shorts. He had black hair and tan skin; he looked a bit Spanish. What struck me the most though were his eyes. There were a deep piercing blue and seemed harsh compared with the rest of his features. He smiled lightly at me and motioned to the menu in his hand.

"Excuse me, but what comes in your pineapple passion smoothie?" He asked politely.

I looked at the girls and saw that they were already halfway out the door.

"Pineapple chunks, pineapple juice, strawberries, passion fruit, and yogurt," I said in a hurry, anxious to get out and follow Bella and Cleo.

"Thanks, can I – " He began, but I cut him off.

" – Just a sec," I said, looking around wildly for a waitress. I spotted Trish over on the other side of the café, wiping a table. She looked my way and I motioned for her to come over.

"Can you take this man's order?" I asked hurriedly, my eyes still on the door. "I've got to go." She nodded and hastily deposited her cleaning supplies behind the counter.

"No problem. You go on, I've got this." She smiled confidently and turned to the a guy. "Now sir, what can I get you?"

I never heard if he went with the pineapple passion smoothie or not because I was out of the café before he could even answer. The girls were waiting out by the pier.

"Where were you?" Cleo asked curiously, "How long can it take to pay for three drinks? Especially when you own the place?"

I shook my head, "There was a customer, but I got one of the other waitresses to take care of him, so it's all good. Are we ready?" I looked at both of them seriously.

"We're ready," Bella replied. "Let's go." And with that she looked around hastily to see if anyone was in the immediate area, and then dived into the bay. Cleo and I followed suite and we regrouped underwater and began power swimming in the direction of Mako.

* * *

Once we arrived on Mako we lost no time in splitting up. Cleo beached herself and was dry in an instant, using her power to lift the water off her body and deposit it on the sand beside her. She entered the woods and found a place where she could see anyone who landed on the beach, but they couldn't see her. One she was ready, Bella and I headed for the underwater entrance to the moon pool. We surfaced and looked around the cavern, expecting the worse, but surprised to see nothing out of the ordinary.

"I don't see anything," I said offhandedly, trying to still my heart that had been pounding in anticipation of what we might have found. I chided myself for being so paranoid and tried to appear calm.

"Let's get out and look around," Bella said slowly, pulling herself out of the water and waiting for me to come out so that I could dry us both off. The other girls could use their powers to get dry, but it was obvious that mine was the most practical way. It was like having a super powered blow dryer available at the clenching of your fist.

We got our legs back in a few seconds and I followed Bella over to the far side of the cavern. She stopped all of a sudden, and I was forced to as well.

"There it is," she said, pointing to the dark blue duffle bag that was lodged in a niche in the wall of our cave.

"Well then lets just get this over with," I said practically, walking confidently up to the wall and yanking the bag out. I set it down on the ground and crouched down beside it. Bella sank down next to me and watched as I hurriedly unzipped the zipper and pulled the two edges apart. There wasn't a whole lot of stuff inside, just the basics for a hike in the woods. There was a small first aid kit, a flashlight, a pair of swimming goggles, a packet of matches, and a bag of trail mix. I fished around for some kind of identification, but there was nothing. No wallet, no luggage tag, no inner compartments or pockets that might hold some kind of clue. I sighed in defeat and passed the bag to Bella.

"Here, maybe you can find something," I said, standing up and checking the crevice from which we had pulled the bag. As I peered into the tiny, dark space, I saw something that I hadn't seen before. Nestled all the way in the back was a brown clipboard with several sheets of paper clipped to the front. I pulled it out and was startled by a small object the clattered out with it, landing on the ground right next to my feet. I jumped and let out a small scream.

"What? What happened?" Bella cried, standing up and looking around in terror.

"It was nothing, I'm sorry." I apologized quickly, "I just dropped this," I bent down and picked up the compass, holding for her to see.

"A compass?" She questioned, taking a closer look.

"Yeah, nothing special," I remarked, turning back to the clipboard. I hurriedly scanned over the top sheet. My heart began beating faster as I read. This person had obviously been doing some kind of research, whoever he or she had been. There was the exact longitude and latitude numbers of Mako Island written on the sheet, as well as average temperature and atmospheric pressure of the area. It looked like one of Lewis's papers, only this time it wasn't his research. I flipped to the next page and my eyes widened at what I saw. There were more notes, but these were on the moon pool, the temperature of the water, the pH, and a bunch of other figures that I didn't recognize. There was a detailed drawing of the hole at the top of the cave and some more drawings of various rocks and other natural figures inside the cave, some of which were right before my eyes, making it clear that someone had been in here for an extended period of time in order to make such good sketches. We could have swum in here at any time and interrupted him. I tried not to think about that. I turned the page again and gasped audibly at what I saw next. The last page was a printed article about mythical sea creatures. One paragraph was highlighted and my eyes flew to it right away.

**_Mermaids –_**

_Creatures once thought to be nothing more than a childish fairytale told by insane sailors; mermaids are still pursued to this day by persistent scientists who are anxious to prove the world wrong. While it is true that there have been several sightings reported, only a few contain any sort of credibility. Some of the most noted are the sightings if Rachel Carter from Dublin Ireland in 2007, and Andrew Daykin from Perth Australia in 2011. _

_According to Rachel, she was on vacation with her family on the Irish seashore and had gone for a walk down the beach alone. There were to many rocks, so she was forced to stop unless she wanted to climb over them. "I was wearing flip-flops" Carter says, "and I didn't really feel like getting all tired." Rachel had stopped and had been sitting quietly on the sand for about fifteen minutes when she claimed she heard a scraping noise, like something was being pulled along the sand. "I was curious," says Carter, "I thought it might be a hurt animal or something." She went to investigate the noise and discovered a small clearing in the rocks just a few yards away from where she had been previously sitting. "I couldn't believe my eyes," Carter stated incredulously, "but there it was, a mermaid pulling herself out of the water and onto the sand. I was so shocked that I couldn't even say anything. It was then that she looked up and saw me. I thought she would be angry because I had obviously been intruding, but instead she looked terrified. I was about to assure her that I wasn't going to hurt her, but she disappeared into the water again before I could. All she left was a mark on the sand where her tail had dragged, the sound I had heard. But that disappeared too when the next wave washed up on shore." Carter described the creature as being obviously female, with a yellow-orange tail that seemed to be made up of hundreds of scales. She claimed that the girl appeared to be quite young, about thirteen or fourteen maybe. She had a yellow-orange tankinish top as well, composed of the same scales as her tail. Her hair had been a brownish blonde and her eyes a piercing blue. "She appeared to be completely human except for the fact that she had a tail instead of legs. From the waist up she looked just like a teenager at the beach." Carter said. It has been speculated by scientist that these "mermaids" are perhaps a bit like the werewolf legend in that they can switch between human and mer at will, and perhaps this was why the mermaid was trying to leave the water. That brings us to the sighting by Andrew Daykin of Australia. _

"_I was taking a hike on Mako Island a few miles off the Golden Coast," says Daykin. "I was alone and I could tell right away that there was something very different about this island. I can't quite explain the feeling I got when I landed, but it was almost like I was being watched. I never actually saw anyone watching me; though later it was the other way around." Daykin claimed to have seen a weird fish like creature swim quickly past his boat when he had first arrived on the island. "I thought it was a barracuda, or some other large fish, so I didn't even stop to think about it. Later though, when I reflected on it more closely, I realized that it had been swimming faster than any barracuda ever could." As Daykin began his hike, he didn't notice anything out of the ordinary until he tripped over a stone and fell headlong into an underground cave. "I hadn't seen the hole in the ground and I just went tumbling down. I wasn't hurt, but I wasn't sure if I could find my way out." According to Daykin, about fifteen minutes had passed when he heard voices coming from another part of the cave. "They sounded like young girls." He said, "and I was surprise and relieved, because they certainly must know a way out. They didn't sound frightened or upset, so I greatly doubted that they were trapped in here like myself. Then the voices stopped. I began to move quickly, fearing that they would leave before I could discover where was the exit. I rounded a corner into another chamber of the cave and saw a pool of water perfectly centered in the chamber. There was no one to be seen and I realized right away that I had been too late. That was when my eyes caught the shape of some sort of animal under the water. Then I saw that it was no animal, but a human figure with a tail instead of legs. It was gone a split second later, but not before I could be sure that I wasn't seeing things." Daykin described this creature as once again being female, having all the same characteristics of the mer seen by Rachel Carter. The only difference he mentioned was that this mermaid had dark brown hair. Daykin says that he never saw her eyes and could not tell her age. "I was obviously shocked at what I had seen," Daykin says, "but after the initial surprise was over, I explored the cave a bit more. It was then that I saw the footprints." According to Daykin, there were at least three sets of footprints, all of which started near the pool, and then lead back to it. There were none coming from any outside entrance. "They had obviously come from the water," Daykin says, "and those footprints were undoubtedly human." Daykin says he also saw several long imprints in the sand, starting from the edge of the pool. "It looked like something had been dragged there," he says, "and then the footprints started right next to them. It was like they had left the water as mermaids and somehow become human once they were on the sand." The imprints made supposedly by a mermaid tail match with what Rachel Carter claimed to have seen and so do several other minuscule details. _

_So it appears that maybe mermaids could still be alive and living among us today in human form. It is unknown if these creatures have any powers supernatural, or any special abilities relating to their obviously different species. Perhaps those sailors of the old days weren't as crazed as people thought._

_By Richard Lieberstein_

* * *

I couldn't breath. Ireland. Mako. Mermaids. The story of our lives was written out in a publicly accessible article. Gathered, how many people actually visited , but still, it was out there and no matter how small a minority knew about it, that still meant that someone knew. No one was supposed to know. Who had been that girl in Ireland? The three girls seen by that Daykin guy, they must have been Cleo, Emma, and I. Oh god, it must have been Cleo. He had said the mermaid had had brown hair. Maybe the other sighting had been Bella, but she had never mentioned anything of the kind happening. I turned to her, all the color now drained from my face.

"Well, nothing in here, that's for sure," Bella said, putting all the items she had taken from the bag back inside. Apparently she had emptied the whole thing and looked in every corner. It didn't matter anymore. I had found enough information for the both of us.

"Why don't we just…" her voice trailed off when she saw my face. "Rikki, what's wrong?" She asked, peering at the papers in my hand. I silently handed them to her and she leafed through them. I heard her gasp as she came to the article at the end and it didn't take long for her to skim through it. She turned in my direction and just looked at me soundlessly.

"We need to get out of here," she finally said urgently, handing me the clipboard.

"You think?" I snapped. "And I suppose that was just some random mermaid that was spotted in Ireland!" She looked at me in shock. I felt bad for a moment, but I shoved those feelings aside the same way I shoved the clipboard back into its cranny. She didn't say a word as she threw the duffle bag in after the clipboard and headed for the side of the pool. She dived into the water and I quickly followed as we headed back to the beach to tell Cleo what we had found and to leave our former-safe-haven as soon as possible.

* * *

No One's POV:

After the girls left the pool, a shadow crept out from behind a curve in one of the passageways of the cave opened by the dynamite explosion several months before. The figure pulled a small object out from his pocket and held it in his hand. After looking at it for several seconds, he slipped it back into his pocket and took a few steps forward until he was right where the girls had been standing previously.

Then he reached out his hand and pulled the duffle bag out of its niche.

**A/N: AAAAHHHHH! WHO WAS THAT? Hehehe…._I_ know! LOL but _YOU_ don't! }:-} I'm so mean! But this story _is_ a mystery; so multiple cliffhangers ARE to be expected. Once again, I apologize for being gone for so long and I know this isn't the longest chapter and that the article took up a lot of it, but that article is crucial for later in the story so I felt that I needed to include it right away. I tried to make it sound as much like a real article as possible, even though I haven't had any experience in that type of writing. What did you think? Please review and let me know! :) Thanks for reading! Love ya! Oh and I've missed fanfic a LOT, the only thing I've been doing is PMing some of my FF friends lately, so IT'S NICE TO BE BACK! :)**

**Ella:) **


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